Quilted Flower Embellishments from Fabric Strips

Whether you are working on a smaller art quilt or something full size for a bed, adding a 3-D element to your quilt is a great way to add texture. Heather Thomas shows you how to create quick and easy flower embellishments to add to your next project.

Fabric Choice

For her flower embellishments Heather is using a silk fabric, however other fabric can be used as well. Some of the attributes of the silk fabric that Heather likes when creating these fun quilt embellishments is that the fabric can be easily torn into strips and that the fabric also ravels. Cotton fabric can also be easily torn in strips and could be a good choice for creating these flowers. These embellishments are also a great way to use up small pieces of fabric. Whether you do a lot of strip quilting and have extra fabric strips, or have long strips of fabric leftover from trimming up an edge- you probably have enough to create a flower embellishment.

Layering

Heather demonstrates how to create the flower embellishment by beginning with several small strips of fabric in varying shades or colors. She then trims the strips into smaller pieces and begins layering them on top of one another to create the look of flower petals. Once enough strips have been layered, it’s time to stitch them in place. Heather uses her regular presser foot and a back and forth stitching method in various directions to stitch the flower in place. Once it has been stitched, Heather shows how she trims the ends of any fabric strip that might have shifted or that sticks out further than others. She also trims the ends of the inner fabric strips to mimic the look of flower petals getting bigger as they move out from the center.